Purified fungal spore tip mucilage

Abstract

A purified fungal spore tip mucilage isolated from the conidia of Magnaporthe grisea and the process of isolation thereof.

We claim: 
     
       1. A purified spore tip mucilage isolated from conidia of Magnaporthe grisea which has been isolated free of conidial cellular material, extracellular mycelid polysaccharides and low molecular weight contaminants, wherein said purified mucilage has adhesive properties under wet conditions, and wherein said mucilage has mannose as the sole carbohydrate component wherein said mannose is comprised of disaccharide units having a terminal mannose residue linked to a proximal mannose residue and wherein the terminal mannose residue is attached via an alpha-linkage to the 2-position of the proximal mannose residue.   and further wherein said mucilage has a polypeptide component which is rich in hydrophobic and hydroxylated amino acids, and a lipid component.   
     
     
       2. A spore tip mucilage from the conidia of the fungi Magnaporthe grisea which has been isolated in a process comprising: i. growing the fungi in synchronous culture to a growth stage wherein said fungi have produced conidia having mucilage at the tips of said conidia;   ii. harvesting said conidia from said fungi cultures into a solution;   iii. dispersing the mucilage from said conidia by means of gentle disruption of the solution; and   iv. separating conidial debris from the solution to yield purified spore tip mucilage.     
     
     
       3. The mucilage of claim 2 isolated by a process further comprising after step ii: iia. washing said harvested conidia to remove contaminating mycelial extracellular polysaccharide.   
     
     
       4. The mucilage of claim 3 isolated by a process wherein at step iii said dispersing is performed by sonication in a solution optionally comprising detergent and further wherein said sonication is performed sufficiently gently so as not to solubilize substantial amounts of conidial components other than the mucilage. 
     
     
       5. The mucilage of claim 4 isolated by a process further comprising after step iv: v. ultrafiltrating said solution one or more times to remove said detergent and low molecular weight contaminants, and, optionally, whereby said ultrafiltrating further concentrates said mucilage to yield a solution of highly purified spore tip mucilage.